Fruit Awareness

1. Are Members of the Campus Community Aware of the Fruit Trees which make up their Geographical Space?

Persons are generally aware of the popular fruit trees on campus. In total, respondents named twenty-four of the more common fruit trees of the total 55 edible plants that are mapped. Of the respondents, 65.9% stated that they have noticed the fruit trees on campus, and 82.7% indicated that they would pick from the campus fruit trees if permitted to do so. The most popular fruit to be seen (41%) and eaten (32.5%) is the Julie mango (Fig 01). It should be noted however, that most of the fruits are “seen but not eaten”. In part, this is because people did not feel they had permission to eat from the trees.

2. What Are The Reasons for Picking Fruits On Campus?

People who pick fruits on campus say they do this because fruits are healthy, cheap, and they prefer fruit to eating other things (Fig 02).

3. What Are The Reasons for Not Picking Fruits On Campus?

Among those who do not pick the fruit, many stated safety concerns (25%) and that they simply did not want to eat from campus trees (preference 25%). Inconvenience was also a popular reason (21.4%) for persons not picking fruits from the campus fruit trees (Table 5.2). Given that many people felt that picking fruit was not safe and it was inconvenient, would people eat the fruit if it was pre-harvested?

4. Would the Campus Community Eat Pre-harvested Fruits?

Respondents generally feel more comfortable eating the fruit if it is pre-harvested (87.6%) while nearly 12.4% still would refuse. The main reasons for eating pre-harvested fruit (Fig 04) are that it is convenient, in that they would not have to pick the fruit themselves (28.9%), nationalism and to support the UWI (23.7%) and health (15.8%). 77.3% of those who refused to eat the pre-harvested fruit said it was due to the foreseen purchase prices, which would likely be higher than the market (Fig 05).